- Think Fast and Go with Your Gut
- The Essentials of Three-point Lighting
- Luke Brindley Interview Setup
- Preparing the Scene
- Techniques for Controlling the Light
- Standard Packing List for a Portrait Setup
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Standard Packing List for a Portrait Setup
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□ |
1 |
650W Fresnel |
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□ |
1 |
Chimera soft box with speed ring |
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□ |
1 |
300W Fresnel with barn doors |
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□ |
1 |
100W Fresnel with barn doors |
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□ |
4 |
lighting stands |
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□ |
1 |
gel and diffusion jelly roll |
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□ |
4 |
300W dimmers |
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□ |
4 |
ground-wire killers |
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□ |
1 |
tungsten/daylight reflector |
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□ |
1 |
lightbulb box |
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1 |
Kino Flo 400 - 1 bank |
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□ |
2 |
bounce cards (white card stock) |
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6 |
C stands with arms |
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□ |
6 |
10-pound sand bags |
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□ |
2 |
6-port power strips |
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□ |
3 |
10-foot 3-port extension cords |
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□ |
2 |
25-foot extension cords |
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□ |
20 |
clothespins |
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Profile: Lisa and Ian Robinson
Lisa and Ian Robinson are a married duo specializing in wedding and event photography. Their company, SoftBox Media (www.softboxmediaphotography.com), is based in the Washington, D.C. area. This award-winning team has been recognized by TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com for outstanding wedding and event photography. Not ones to be limited by traditional photography, both Lisa and Ian have taken advantage of video-enabled DSLRs to broaden their creative storytelling options when shooting weddings and events.
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Traditionally, photographers and videographers have covered weddings. Although wedding photography is still the Robinsons’ bread and butter, more and more they’ve been breaking with tradition and also shooting video for the weddings they cover. “We love the art of still photography. Sometimes though, video can add life to a typical photo slide show DVD,” says Ian.
With so many photographers in the wedding industry, wedding photographers arguably have the largest field of peers from which to set themselves apart in hopes of catching the eye of a potential client. Lisa and Ian have found a way to incorporate video into their photography and offer something unique in the vast marketplace of wedding photography. “We see it [video] as value added; however, we do recognize the difference between a photographer and a videographer. And while we don’t intend on ever becoming true videographers, we see the benefits of including video into what we do,” says Lisa.
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The transition into shooting video for Lisa and Ian, like other pro photographers, has been a bit bumpy at times, not only at the production stage of a project but also in post. For many photographers, learning new things about production and post can be intimidating. But Ian and Lisa have a pragmatic approach to shooting video with a DSLR.
“Let’s be honest; shooting video and shooting video well are two completely different things,” says Ian. “There’s a fair amount of technical knowledge required, not only in the shooting phase, but also in editing and output. As you shoot, you need to have a firm grasp of what types of shots you’ll need in order to achieve a successful edit. Likewise, you need to have a firm grasp of your editing software so you know exactly what you can or cannot achieve in post.”
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Lisa agrees and adds, “With video, you have to be able to consider sequential time and different camera options to add visual interest. For example, not just shooting video with your camera locked down on your tripod, but framing the action in and out of the frame, using rack focus techniques, utilizing depth of field, zooming, etcetera—all of these techniques help add visual interest and take your video from ho-hum to something special.”
Shooting stills and video at weddings has presented three main challenges—“low light, audio, and stabilization,” says Lisa. “Low light because you don’t have the editing freedom stills have to ‘clean up’ the noise potentially generated in low light, audio because that’s yet another area of technology many photographers have much to learn about, and stabilization because a lot of the good stabilization equipment can be very expensive.”
For Lisa and Ian, the challenges of transitioning from still photography to video are worth it because they see video as being able to enhance the emotional aspects of wedding photography. “Video can help tap into another layer of emotion. It has motion, sound, and color, all things that happen in day-to-day life, and [that’s] how people’s minds work,” says Lisa.
Ian shares a sentiment that is common among many photographers. “With still photography you only have the image—no motion and no sound—which leaves much open to the viewer’s interpretation. It’s exciting to think that video-enabled DSLRs allow us to use both mediums. We can become even better storytellers and weave the two together to come up with the most complete story.”
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The fusion of stills and video that SoftBox Media has been able to bring to its work has only been made possible by the gigantic leap forward in DSLR technology. “The coolest thing about them [video-enabled DSLRs] is that you can shoot both high-quality stills and high-quality video at the same time. Previously, you could never do that on one piece of equipment,” says Lisa.
Ian sees a bright future for video-enabled DSLRs. Already a proponent of a raw still workflow, he sees this ability coming to mainstream video DSLRs soon. “Raw video, much like raw still photography, would be awesome; the video shot on these cameras is of high quality but it’s still highly compressed. Hopefully, the future will bring less compression, and even more.”
Gear List
- 2 Canon 5D Mark II,
- Canon 5D
- Canon 30D
- Canon 20-105mm L f/4
- Canon 17-40 L f/4
- Canon 50mm f/1.4
- Canon 85mm f/1.8